The Tale of the Three Brothers
by Anonymous Howler
Summary: Instead of saving Hermione from the troll Ron and Harry save a distraught Neville who had hidden in the bathroom to get away from bullies. Like the book said there are just something things you can't go through without becoming friends or in this case, brothers.
1. Chapter 1

**This first chapter is a little rough because it's almost entirely taken from my drabble fic Being Born Again. All other chapters will be smoother and longer.**

* * *

The Great Hall was bursting with students. The four long tables were lined with breakfast food and students were chatting loudly with each other over their meal.

It was nearly a week after the Great Troll Scare of Halloween and everyone was still talking about it. Everyone except the three people most involved.

"Oy! Nev! Over here!" Ron said spewing half-chewed food all over the table. The redhead was sitting in his normal spot beside his best friend waiting for Neville to make it to breakfast.

Harry laughed loudly and waved too. The normally very shy boy smiled back and walked over to snatch the seat across from Harry and Ron.

Ever since Halloween, there had a been a rather distinct change in the three boys who encountered the mountain troll. Harry and Ron had been friends before the incident and they had both been friendly with Neville but afterward, the three had been closer than ever. Someone people suggested it was the bond of surviving the mountain troll's wrath that brought them together. Others suggested it was the trauma of the detention they served with Professor Snape for "acting like complete dunderheads and getting close to the beast." No one knew the true story.

It involved three boys sitting in the dormitory after the particularly brutal detention of scrubbing cauldrons with cups of some of Seamus' smuggled in fire whiskey in front of them. All it took was a drink and Harry, Ron and Neville become something, or rather someones, more.

"Hey guys," Neville said in greeting. Harry grinned widely with a mouth full of food and Ron shoved the plate of bacon toward the other boy.

"Better eat up before Harry gets a hold of it," Ron cautioned. Neville shot a look at the dark haired boy who looked up with his cheeks puffed out a bit from the huge bite he had just taken.

"Right," Neville said scooping several pieces of bacon onto his plate.

"So what's the plan for today?" Neville asked grabbing for the gravy boat.

"Exploring!" Harry chirped.

"Yeah, I remember the twins talking about some secret passageways," Ron told the sandy haired boy. "It'll be-"

THUNK

"RON!" Hermione shouted. The frizzy haired girl was right across from the redhead. She had been buried in one of her school books but when Ron's head met the table she had snapped it shut.

Harry laughed loudly and Neville joined in. "It's fine Hermione," Neville assured her. "It's just a thing he does."

"Is he sick?" The muggle-born girl asked worried.

"Nah, Ace is just sleeping!" Harry told her still giggling.

"Ace?" The girl asked curiously, letting her curiosity overtake the concern since the boys didn't appear to be worried.

Neville slapped a hand over Harry's mouth before the younger boy could answer. "Nickname! It's our nickname for him," He explained looking somewhat nervous.

Hermione looked unconvinced so Neville pushed on. "Ron and I call Harry Luffy and they call me Sabo!"

"Sabo? Luffy? Those are strange names aren't they?" Hermione said wrinkling her nose.

"Hey! Sabo is a perfectly good name," The normally shy and quiet boy said in protest.

"Shishishi," Harry laughed stealing a slice of bacon from under Ron's forehead.

The young witch gave the three an odd look. "You three really changed after Halloween," She said.

Neville grinned and shot a look at Harry and Ron. "Yeah we did," He admitted.

"You haven't told anyone what really happened that night," Hermione said nosily.

Harry and Neville nodded. "Yep," Neville agreed.

"Why?" Hermione demanded.

"We're men!" Harry said with a wide grin. "Men keep secrets!"

"Yeah!" Ron said sitting up with a loud yawn. "Secrets! So butt out!"

"Hmmpf!" The girl pouted. "How rude!

Neville rolled his eyes at this brother and shook his head. "Sorry Hermione, it's something we are keeping just between us," He explained.

"Fine! Be that way," the frizzy-haired girl said gathering her books.

"I'll just figure it out on my own," She declared as she stood from the table in the Great Hall her books gathered in her arms.

"By the way, Ronald," Hermione paused. "You have egg on your face."

"Whaaat? Where?"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Ok so the original plot was**_ **waaay** _ **to close to Sunny and Merry for me so I had to rework, it thus the long time between chapters. Thankfully, the problem is fixed and I think you can see how different this story is going to be from Sunny and Merry.**_

* * *

"Oiy! Ace get up!"

Ace jerked awake when his blond brother's foot made an impact with his side.

"Ouch! What the hell Sabo?" Ace hissed sitting up. The redhead rubbed pitifully at his side and glared at his blond brother.

Sabo rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. Ace was being a baby, Sabo hadn't kicked him that hard and they often hit each other harder during training anyway.

Ace and Sabo were currently in Ace's room at the Burrow. The Burrow being the longtime home of the Weasley family, of which Ace was the youngest son, Ron Weasley, at the same time also being, Portgas D. Ace, the son of the most hated man in the world. Gol D. Roger.

Ace scowled ferociously up at his sworn brother but took the offered hand to pull himself up off the ground. At fourteen years old, or nearly fourteen in Sabo's case, the brothers stood shoulder to shoulder at almost the same height. Ace was only a few scant inches taller than Sabo, something the redhead used mercilessly to his advantage.

Together they made up 2/3s of the ASL group, a band of brothers really, that had been thicker than thieves since their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And wasn't that a hoot? Wizards. Ace and Sabo were wizards. They couldn't explain the memories they had regained after the incident with the troll but they remembered and that was really all that mattered.

"Where did you sweater go?" Sabo asked with a smirk, as he helped his brother to his feet.

Ace was bare-chested and had likely been hiding in his room from Molly Weasley who took her son running around without a shirt as a challenge.

Ace scowled and shook his head. "Doesn't matter," Ace said. "Why'd you wake me up?"

Sabo brightened and slapped his brother on the shoulder. "We are getting Luffy today!"

* * *

Harry James Potter, also known as Monkey D. Luffy, was literally bouncing with excitement. The black-haired boy was bouncing so much that his glasses were in great danger of slipping from his face and landing on the floor, but Luffy wasn't too concerned with that as both of his brothers were very good with the repair and summoning charms, they needed to find and fix Luffy's glasses.

The youngest ASL brother often became too excited and would either lose, break or just leave his glasses somewhere. It wasn't uncommon for the Gryffindor common room to be practically turned upside down to find Luffy's glasses when the boy finally remembered he needed them to see.

"Settle down boy," Uncle Vernon barked. Luffy ignored his uncle as he always did. Ever since Ace and Sabo had broken Luffy out of Number Four the summer before his second year and, along with Ace's older brothers Fred and George, the Dursley's had been, not nicer, but certainly less terrible.

Luffy had asked Ace what he had done to the muggle family but the then twelve-year-old had refused to answer and Sabo did the same.

"But Ace and Sabo are coming," Luffy whined. The Dursley family were dressed in their best clothing, sitting in the living room waiting for the Weasley's to come and pick him up for the Quidditch World Cup. It had only been a few days since the Weasley's sent a letter asking for permission to take Harry, Ace had sent an owl that told him he was coming whether the Dursley's agreed or not and to be ready. However, the Dursley's never passed up an opportunity to boast about themselves or to get rid of Harry, and this happened to be both.

"When are they coming?" Aunt Petunia snapped peeking through the window as if she were looking for a car.

Luffy shrugged and stuffed a finger up his nose, ignoring his aunt's hiss of disgust. "Dunno," Luffy said carelessly.

Uncle Vernon began muttered something about rude, inconsiderate, freaks who didn't respect other people's time. Luffy tuned him out when he began muttered about cars and freaks. He almost told them about Mr. Weasley's magic car that he, Sabo, and Ace still visited in the Forbidden Forest when they were training but a loud boom stopped him. Luffy grinned when he heard voices coming from the boarded up fireplace. The Weasley's had arrived.

* * *

Ace and Sabo had barely let anyone else see Luffy before they escaped with him. The slightly older boys each grabbed an arm and fled out the back, passed the back garden and into the wood area that held their hideout.

Once they were far enough away, Ace and Sabo dropped Luffy's arms and let their brother run beside them.

"So how was life with the muggle, Lu?" Ace asked running ahead of his brothers.

"It was so boooooring," Luffy whined, dragging out the word boring. "And I'm starving."

Sabo snorted. "Don't tell Mrs. Weasley that or you'll never get to leave the house with all that she'll feed you," Sabo warned.

Luffy, on the other hand, seemed to like the idea and practically had stars in his eyes picturing the feast.

"She's already promised a great meal at supper time," Ace said spotting their tree house. "There will be plenty to eat."

"I can't wait!" Luffy cried.

The ASL treehouse was held together by magic. A young Ace, fresh from his first year at Hogwarts, had come home and begged his father for help making a treehouse. The kind father had gladly agreed and thus, the treehouse was born. The structure was too large to fit in the tree but it held tight anyway. It was one giant room, with blankets and pillows in one corner and a low table in the middle. Up above the treehouse, on the roof, was a single black flag that flew every day, no matter the weather.

Once properly settled in their tree house the fourteen-year-olds found their hidden snacks and dug in. "Uhg, Luffy you won't believe it but Granger sent an owl the other day," Ace said rolling his eyes.

Hermione Granger had been a thorn in the boys' collective sides since their first year. The frizzy-haired girl had somehow taken it upon herself to act as the Marine to the boy's Pirate. It all started after the troll, and it continued through a duel with Draco Malfoy and the eventual mystery with the Philosopher's Stone.

"Ginny's been sneaking around as well," Sabo reminded Ace. "She's just as bad as Granger!"

To make matters worse, after their second year, Granger had found a partner in little Ginny Weasley who was dedicated to the idea of justice after her encounter with Tom Riddle's diary. Together they were very good at causing problems for the young pirates. "She asked Dad the other day about becoming an Auror," Ace said rolling his eyes. "Mum was so proud."

Luffy laughed at his overdramatic brother

"Gran would cry with joy if I said I wanted to be an Auror," Sabo said a little bitterly. In their strange second life, Ace had probably been the luckiest. He had a large loving family while Sabo and Luffy were orphans. Sabo at least had his grandmother who loved him dearly, but she was often guilty of pushing her own ambitions on Sabo. The blond loved his grandmother who was nothing like his parents in the previous world and he knew that his new parents had loved him dearly but still the overbearing and pushing old woman was grating to Sabo and his desire for freedom.

Poor Luffy had it the worst. Deemed a hero for things he couldn't remember, left orphaned and alone with the Dursley's, only his brothers and precious Godfather Sirius Black really made things better.

Speaking of Sirius Black… "Oh yeah, Luffy, how's Sirius?" Sabo asked twirling his wand.

Luffy brightened and smiled widely. "Great! He and Remus are traveling together doing something. He wants to hear all about the World Cup and said he would try and get closer to school after it starts so we can see him!"

All three brothers were close to Sirius, having helped rescue him from the Dementor's kiss their third year, with a certain wannabe marine's help.

"Ronald Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley's magically amplified voice rang out. "You best not be running around without your shirt on young man!"

Ace yelped and looked around wildly for the shirt he had peeled off in the Burrow before he had run off with his brothers. Luffy and Sabo laughed at their desperately searching brother knowing that Mrs. Weasley like had the thing in hand when she yelled.

"Come on, Luffy," Sabo said with a wide grin. "I'm sure if you look sad enough Mrs. Weasley will make you a snack to hold you off until dinner."

"Yaay!" Luffy cried bouncing to his feet. "Snack time, come on Ace!"

The redhead sighed knowing that it was no use and he was going to have to brave his mother's irritation if he wanted a snack.

"I'm coming, Luffy!" Ace said slipping down the rope ladder. "Wait up!"


	3. Chapter 3

Somehow Ace, Sabo, and Luffy ended up in a pile of bodies when the portkey landed. Correction, they ended up at the bottom of the pile of bodies. Or at least Ace and Sabo did. Luffy had the inexplicable power to end up on top no matter what.

"Get off," Sabo grunted shove the dark haired boy off his back. Luffy tumbled with a giggle and bounced to his feet.

"That was fun! Let's go again!" Luffy shouted bouncing up and down.

Ace rolled his eyes and pushed himself to his feet. Of course, Luffy enjoyed that. Ace watched his father, and Cedric and Amos Diggory float gently down and land on their feet. Only Sabo's elbow in his side kept the hothead from making a snide comment about Amos Diggory.

Cedric was a good guy, he played fair but his dad was a braggart and more obnoxious than any Marine Ace had ever met in his last life.

Arthur Weasley smiled at the boys and shook his head. "Alright then, Fred, George? Ginny? Hermione?"

Ace groaned softly. For all of three seconds, he had managed to forget Hermione and Ginny were there with them. Granger had been after the brothers since their first year and with Ginny's help, the girl had only become more of a menace. Any time the brothers tried to do anything they found themselves with two watchers ready and willing to do everything in their power to make life for the ASL brothers more difficult.

Somehow, when they weren't causing trouble, Luffy and Granger were pretty good friends and sometimes Neville managed to be friendly with Ginny and Ace just wanted to shake his brothers. They were as good as Marines and Pirates didn't have Marine friends.

"Come along, Ronald," Granger said getting Ace's attention.

Ace rolled his eyes and gave the girl a dry look. "Come on Granger, it's not that hard. It's Ron or Ace, really, either way, it's three letters and a smart girl like you shouldn't have a problem with it," Ace said dryly.

The frizzy-haired girl sniffed and marched off to stand next to Ginny. They immediately began muttering softly to each other.

"They're going to cause problems," Ace said to Sabo. The blond just nodded and sighed.

The brothers followed the small crowd into the campsite where several dozen other families had set up camp. The Diggory's said their goodbyes leaving just the Weasleys crowd. Arthur led the group to their campsite and the twins immediately disappeared. Ace wanted to do the same but Luffy somehow got drug into helping Ace's dad set up the tent. Luffy and Arthur were both terrible at it.

"Mr. Weasley, maybe you should use magic?" Hermione suggested from the sidelines.

"Oh no! That wouldn't be nearly as much fun! Right, Harry?" Arthur said with a smile. It was easy to see the failure to get the tent up was partially Mr. Weasley's attempt to get along without magic and partially Luffy ruining everything.

Luffy grinned and laughed. "Right! Shishishi," the boy laughed loudly. Ace and Sabo rolled their eyes at their little brother

"You're never going to get it up with Luffy helping," Sabo pointed out. The sandy-haired boy reached out grabbed Luffy by the collar. "Here, we'll keep him occupied so you and Granger can get the tent up, Mr. Weasley."

The redheaded man nodded in thanks and Sabo ignored Luffy's whining and set him upon Ace. "Come on Lu," Ace said shoulder bumping his brother. "We can go exploring."

"Adventure!" Luffy shouted thrusting his hands in the air and took off running. Ace just sighed and shrugged Sabo shook his head mournfully. Luffy was long gone.

* * *

"Ace, hey, look" Sabo said. The boys had quickly gotten bored of looking for their little brother and decided that Luffy wasn't likely to get into too much trouble without them there. The only sign of Luffy was the lone pair of glasses that Luffy had dropped when he took off. Sabo pocketed them with familiar ease and the brothers continued on.

The campsite for the Quidditch World Cup was not far from an area set up as a bazaar for vendors of team merchandise and other odds and ends. Sabo and Ace were drawn to that area right away. The style reminded them of their previous lives and the open air markets that were favored on many islands.

Sabo pointed at a vendor was that going face-painting and animated team logos. It had a simple sign that read "Wizard Paints and Tattooing" and when Ace saw it he knew right away what had caught Sabo's eye.

Ace felt the lack of his pirate mark keenly. The tribute to Whitebeard had been Ace's most prized possession, a claim for all to see about just who Ace claimed as his Pops. Even now with a wonderful father Ace missed Whitebeard fiercely and the mark he had worn with pride just as much. It meant more than Ace could really explain to anyone who never sailed under a pirate flag but Luffy and Sabo both understood their brother's pain.

The redhead began patting his pockets thoughtfully, not giving a thought to his age or what his new family's reaction to the tattoo would be. He wilted when he realized that he didn't have enough money.

"Hey," Sabo said bumping Ace's shoulder with his own. He wouldn't have pointed the stand out if he hadn't planned to help pay for it. The Weasley family was great but he knew right away that Ace wouldn't have enough money to pay for the tattoo himself. "Don't worry about it. I've got enough for you to get it done. Even if you want it the same size as before."

Ace frowned, Sabo could see he was obviously conflicted. The oldest brother didn't like taking his brothers' money. Luffy was terrible about it because he would just give the older boy money, with no regard to how much or the occasion. Ace had attempted to sit Luffy down and explain that he didn't want his charity and that Luffy should keep the money because it was left to him by his parents. Luffy shot back that money didn't mean anything if he didn't have anyone to share it with and that he would rather have Ace and Sabo and no money. Ace ruffled his brother's perpetually messy hair and dropped it.

Sabo was much the same but much sneakier than their little brother. Often times Ace would reach in his pockets and find sickles and knuts that he knew weren't his but Sabo would never admit to doing it and refused to take the money, so was almost forced to accept it. Still, in this situation tattoos were expensive, especially if you made them permanent like Ace wanted his to be.

"Come on, consider it a birthday present," Sabo said as he tried to convince his sworn-brother. "I know you really miss it."

Sabo grinned toothily when he saw Ace cave. The boy grabbed his brother's wrist and drug him to the booth. The older wizard who ran the booth gave both boys a lazy look and when they described what Ace wanted the wizard promptly declared he wasn't going to be responsible for his parent's anger. Ace scoffed and told the wizard that he was of age and to leave it at that.

Ace and Sabo both knew that the wizard running the booth didn't believe him but shrugged it off when Sabo mentioned a big tip for the artist. Ace described the tattoo again, this time the artist began to draw it out with Ace pointing out the mistakes. Wizarding tattoos were very different than muggle tattoos. Sabo assumed that muggles used the methods he was used to from his old life, needles forcing ink under the skin. Wizards, afraid of pain as they were, did it much differently. They produced the art the customer wanted and transferred the drawing on the customer's skin using a sticking charm. For an extra few sickles, people could get animation charms or permanent-sticking charms on the tattoos. Ace said no to the animation charm but yes to the permanent sticking charm after the artist had stuck the tattoo to Ace's back.

"Your mother is going to kill you," Sabo said cheerfully. Ace carried his shirt in his hands, showing his tattoo off for all to see.

"She won't see it," Ace said turning his head to get a look at the familiar art.

Sabo laughed, loudly. "Ace, you already can't keep your shirt on," Sabo said as if he were explaining math to Luffy. "Now that you have your mark back, what makes you think you'll be any better about it?"

Ace paled beneath his freckles and rubbed his face his mother was a formable woman. "You might be right," Ace admitted but shrugged it off. "Oh well."

Sabo laughed again.

* * *

Luffy ooh'd and aww'd with each booth he saw. Everything was a bright emerald green, Ireland's colors, and even without his glasses, Luffy was in awe. He had never seen anything like this before, not since his last life anyway.

Luffy bounced between stands stopping to peer and squint at objects that caught his attention. He wished he hadn't misplaced his glasses but the stupid things fell off too easily and they were not good for fights or adventures. Luffy did not like wearing them.

"Hey, Harry!" Luffy turned and grinned at the red blob that had called his name. Luffy waved and tried to place the voice, it sounded like one of Ace's twin brothers.

"Get a look at this," one of the Weasley twins said. He gave Luffy's shoulder a nudge and guided Luffy's gaze to a booth that sold hats.

The other twin that had magically appeared next to him laughed. "He doesn't have his glasses he'd be lucky to see the hand in front of his face," the other twin said cheerfully.

Luffy puffed out his cheeks and crossed his arms. "Not my fault I can't see," Luffy pouted. "I lost my glasses."

The twins laugh together. They were both used to Luffy's habit of leaving his glasses all over the place. "Well," the first twin explained. "Over there, is a hat like you wanted."

Luffy perked up and squinted in the direction where he had been pointed and he could just make out what the twins were talking about. It was a muggle style cowboy hat in bright orange.

Luffy bounced in place and waved the booth owner over. "I want that one!" He said thrusting his finger out to the hat. The booth wizard shrugged and quoted an overblown price that Luffy didn't even blink at.

All three brothers had been on the lookout for items that reminded them of their past lives. Simple comforts to bring them joy when they got lost in the too clear memories. The hat for Ace was perfect.

"Oh, give 'em here George," Fred said. The other twin light up in recognition of what Fred wanted and jammed his hand in his pocket and produced two buttons, one with a wide grin and the other with a deep frown. "Just like you asked!"

Luffy cheered and pushed a few galleons into the twins' hands, he easily ignored the twins' spluttering and attempts to give the money back. "Thanks, guys!" Luffy said cheerfully. "Gotta show Ace!"

Luffy rushed off before the older boys could stop him, hopefully, Ron or Neville would find him before he got into too much trouble.

* * *

The brother spent the rest of the day before the game attempting to find each other and failing miserably. Each time it seemed like Ace and Sabo got close, they just missed their little brother. It was easy to follow Luffy's trail of destruction and mayhem all over but catching the boy was far harder than it looked. And honestly, the elder ASL brothers weren't trying too hard.

Ace and Sabo found themselves easily distracted by the odds and ends scattered throughout the bazaar and by the friends and acquaintances they found scattered around waiting for the game. When they did find Luffy, it was when they started heading for the stadium. Luffy appeared out of nowhere and threw himself at his brother. "ACE! SABO!" Luffy shouted. "Look what I found!"

Luffy shoved the bright orange hat down onto Ace's head and beamed.

It took Ace a moment to realize just what he had on his head but when he saw a familiar orange brim and felt the weight on his head Ace wrapped his little brother up in a tight hug. Between Sabo and Luffy, Ace felt more like himself than he had in ages. The bright orange hat on his head and weight of Pops' mark on his back made him feel like Ace again.

* * *

The game was beyond exciting for the boys. Luffy had purchased a pair of omnioculars which prompted Sabo to grab a pair for himself and for Ace. Neither of the three boys had been affected by the Veela, Ace and Sabo being more affected than Luffy, much to the youngest brother's amusement.

Throughout the game, Sabo noticed Luffy looking at an empty seat beside him and sometimes talking to it, but didn't have time to ask him about it.

Ace threw himself into the game. He shouted and screamed, alternating between cheering for Ireland and cheering for Bulgaria's seeker, Viktor Krum. More than once Sabo and Luffy had to hold the eldest back from throwing himself onto the field to physically fight the officials for a bad call.

The game finally came to an end, much to the brothers' disappointment and glee. Ireland won with Krum catching the snitch. It took hours to get back to the camp grounds, the crowds of witches and wizards pouring from the stadium back to the apparition points or to the campgrounds left the Weasley group shuffling forward.

The brothers spent the time back, crowing over the game with the twins and Ace's eldest brothers, Bill and Charlie. Even, Hermione, who was not a quidditch fan was buzzing excitedly from the game. Ginny, who was just as quidditch crazy as her brothers, was eagerly explaining everything to her friend and bouncing between her brothers as the spoke.

When they finally arrived back into campgrounds and back to the Weasley spot the kids moved into the larger-than-normal-tent and continued to talk excitedly about the game.

"Krum!" Fred moaned, teasing Ace.

"Krum!" George echoed.

"He's an artist on a broom," Ace said firmly, the tips of his ears bright red, but he ignored his brother's teasing. "Did you see that catch?"

"We were all there, Ace," Sabo said with a laugh. "We all saw the same game."

Ace went back to painting pictures of Viktor Krum's power on a broom while Fred and George continued to tease him.

"Ne, Sabo?" Luffy asked tugging on Sabo's arm. "Do you know where my glasses are?"

The boy with light colored hair sighed but produced the eyeglasses that Luffy had dropped after the game ended. Luffy eagerly snatched them from his brother and practically shoved them on his face. "Thanks, Sabo!" Luffy cheered.

A loud boom rocked the campgrounds. The kids all froze. Arthur and the elder Weasley boys all grabbed their wands the ASL brother were seconds behind in drawing their wands.

"What was that?" Ace demanded looking at his suddenly grim faced siblings and father. Arthur Weasley disappeared out of the tend for a moment before rushing back in. "Fred, George! Take the others and go into the woods and hide," Arthur said quickly. "Grab your wands, I'll find you when it's over."

"Dad, what's going on!" Ace shouted worried.

"Death eaters."


End file.
